Torment-A KOTLC Fanfic

Chapter 46

      Hey guys! What's this? A rEaL uPdAtE? I'm so sorry for taking so long guys. I have...let's just say I don't have the same amount of time I used to. Thank you so much for your patience, I love all of you. I'm doing my best to find time to write. I swear. Thanks again guys. This chapter is a longer one, hopefully to cut me some more slack. Thanks again everyone. As usual, Enjoy!
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     "Tam?" Sophie asked. She was about to sit up when Fitz put a hand on her shoulder, as if he had anticipated what she was going to
do. 

      "Sophie?" Tam responded, and everyone in the room let out a sigh of relief. Then a pain returned to Sophie. Aches from the nightmare. From Tam’s memory. It was as if the injures woke up with him, making everything sting. She squeezed her eyes shut and sharply inhaled, accidentally gaining Fitz’s attention.

      "Hey, you okay?" He asked, squeezing her hand for reassurance. 
 
      "Yeah, I’m fine." She tried to ignore the pain, it wasn’t like it was very bad anyway. It was more of a nuisance than anything else.

      "Alright then, I’ll go get Livvy." He smiled and released her hand, then walked out of the room.  

      "Biana?" Sophie heard Tam ask from the other side of the room. She really wanted to sit up and talk to them, but she couldn’t. Maybe if she really tried, but she decided it wouldn’t be a great idea to try. 

      "Yeah Tam?"

      "I’m so sorry." He sounded completely defeated. Sophie was holding herself back from yelling at Tam that it wasn’t his fault, but she didn’t want to interrupt his moment with Biana. 

      "You have no reason to be sorry," Biana responded, and Sophie could practically hear the pain in her voice. "If anything I should be the one apologizing."

      "No. You have done absolutely nothing wrong. You are not allowed to blame yourself. But me on the other hand…”

      "Tam, you realize how much of a hypocrite you’re being right now. Right?"
   
"No I’m not!"
   
       "Yeah, you are. This is literally the definition of hypocrisy." He sighed in response to her remark.

      "Biana, I-" He was interrupted by the door opening. The first person who came into view was Fitz, followed by Livvy. Fitz gave her a reassuring smile and grabbed her hand. Sophie couldn’t help but smile back, some small part of her mind wondered why he had that effect on her.
   
      “Hey Sophie.” Livvy greeted, then glanced over at Fitz. They didn’t say anything, but their expressions were doing plenty of talking.  First Livvy looked concerned, then Fitz shot her a warning look, and Sophie was completely lost. “How do you feel?”
   
      “I feel fine.” Sophie responded. It wasn’t a full lie, but the look Fitz gave her she knew he could tell it wasn’t the full truth either. “I mean, I’m a bit tired and sore. But other then that no different than usual.” Again, not the full truth. She was a little more than just sore, but she wasn’t about to admit that. 

      “That’s good. What do you remember?”

      “We were walking around, and then Biana yelled. I looked up to see Tam falling, then it went black.” Sophie answered, and she could’ve sworn she saw Fitz blush. A flash of guilt shone in his eyes. She then decided a lecture would be in his future. Livvy nodded, then glanced over her shoulder, and Sophie wished yet again that she could sit up to see what was going on. 

      “Fitz?” Livvy asked, and Fitz nodded in response. Sophie couldn’t help but feel frustrated at not knowing what was going on. She hated it when people kept things from her. Livvy then walked away and Fitz sat on the edge of Sophie’s bed. 

      “Ok, would you please explain to me what in the world is going on?” Fitz chuckled at her frustration, and for some reason it made Sophie smile. 

      “I promise I will. Just, later.” He said, flashing the movie-star smile that she had always loved. “But for now, would you like to sit up?” A question as simple as that shouldn’t have made her as happy as it did, but here she was. She nodded, then slowly pushed herself up, ignoring the pain. Once she was up Fitz pulled her to lean on him. He wrapped an arm around her waist and she leaned back against his shoulder. She looked over to see Livvy and Elwin talking to Tam by his cot, with Biana standing awkwardly to the side. “Hey, Sophie?”
 
      “Yeah?” She pulled her attention away from whatever was happening on the other side of the room and re-directed it to Fitz.
“What aren’t you saying? I know you were holding something back while Livvy was over here.”
   
      She eyed him suspiciously, “Did you read my mind?”
   
      “No. Sophie, you know I wouldn’t. I just know you.” She couldn’t help but smile at him. “But...you kind of just confirmed my theory. So, what didn’t you tell me?” She opened her mouth to respond, but couldn’t get any words to come out. She wanted to tell him he was wrong, but he wasn’t. He was completely correct. But she hadn’t said anything for a reason. Not because Livvy had been there. Because the memory hurt. Literally hurt. She didn’t want to talk about it, not yet at least. She wanted to talk to Tam first, considering it is was his memory.

       “Sophie? Are you okay? You just got kinda pale all of the sudden.” Fitz asked, concern soaking his voice.
   
      “Fitz…” She looked at her feet, not being able to bring herself to meet his eyes.

      “It has to do with the nightmare you had last night, doesn’t it?” He whispered, even more worry creeping into his tone.

      “Fitz, please. Just drop it for now. Okay?” Her voice was a bit more harsh then she’d intended, but it got the point across. She could tell he wasn’t happy with it, but he stopped asking. She frowned and scooted closer to him, burying her head farther into his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. I just...don’t want to talk about it right now.”

      He didn’t say anything for a while. She just sat there waiting for a response while fidgeting with her cognate ring. “I’ll be here for you whenever you’re ready.” He finally said, in a soft voice. She looked up at him and met his eyes, then a sad smile spread across her face. 

      “Thank you.” She whispered, resting her head on his shoulder again. Livvy then turned away from Tam’s cot and faced the two of them, grinning wildly when she saw the way the were sitting. She tried to hide her smile as she approached them, slightly failing. Sophie’s cheeks burned with embarrassment, but it wasn’t enough to get her to move. She quite liked it where she was, and she had every intention to stay put.  

      “I think you’re in the clear to test your theory, Fitz,” A shadow of gloom seemed to cast over his face as Livvy spoke. “Tam seems to be in good enough health to handle it. And Sophie is perfectly fine. So, if you're ready, go for it. Elwin and I will be in the other room if you need us.” Fitz nodded once in response, then Livvy and Elwin walked into the Healing Center’s office and closed the door behind them. 

      “What’s she talking about?” Sophie asked, she didn’t bother hiding her confusion. She turned her head to face Fitz, but didn’t leave his arms. “What theory?” Across the room Biana was helping Tam sit up, and when he finally got upright she leaned him against her. 

      “Sophie, do you remember when we were checking Tam’s mind? And the shadow flux attacked?”
  
      “Well, it’s not exactly the easiest thing to forget.” He smiled at her sarcasm, and it momentarily lightened the mood. 
Momentarily being the key word.

      “I guess It’s not.” His smile then faded and was replaced by the serious look he had been wearing ever since Livvy left. “When you were protecting me from the shadow flux, your consciousness was left completely unprotected. Because of that, it hit you hard. Really hard. Your mind was hit with a huge wave of shadow flux, and some of it clung to you.”

      “Wait...what are you saying?” She asked, confusion laced through her tone. 

      “I’m saying, that, ummm…” His voice trailed off and his gaze fixed on something in the distance. After a few moments of silence he snapped out of it and shook his head. “Some of that shadow flux is still a part of you.”